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##  Preventing Bullying. ERIC Digest.                                            

School is supposed to be a place where students feel safe and secure            and where they can count on being treated with respect. The reality,            however, is that a significant number of students are the target of             bullying episodes that result in serious, long-term academic,                   physical, and emotional consequences. Unfortunately, school                     personnel often minimize or underestimate the extent of bullying and            the harm it can cause. In many cases, bullying is tolerated or                  ignored (Barone 1997; Colvin and others 1998). 
When teachers and              administrators fail to intervene, some victims ultimately take                  things into their own hands, often with grievous results. In its                recent analysis of 37 school shooting incidents, the U.S. Secret                Service learned that a majority of the shooters had                             suffered "bullying and harassment that was longstanding and                     severe" (U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center                  2000). 
This Digest examines the problem of bullying and some of               its effects, discusses steps schools are taking, looks at ways peers            can discourage bullying, and identifies other strategies that are               being pursued. WHAT IS BULLYING AND HOW PREVALENT IS THE                      PROBLEM?Bullying occurs when a person willfully and repeatedly              exercises power over another with hostile or malicious intent. A                wide range of physical or verbal behaviors of an aggressive or                  antisocial nature are encompassed by the term bullying. These                   include "insulting, teasing, abusing verbally and physically,                   threatening, humiliating, harassing, and mobbing" (Colvin and                   others). Bullying may also assume less direct forms (sometimes                  referred to as "psychological bullying") such as gossiping,                     spreading rumors, and shunning or exclusion (O'Connell and others               1999). 
In a recent survey of more than 15,000 sixth- through                  tenth-graders at public and private schools in the U.S., "30 percent            of the students reported bullying others, being the target of                   bullies, or both" (Bowman 2001). The information, gathered in 1998              as part of the World Health Organization's Health Behavior in                   School-Aged Children Survey and released in April 2001, is "the                 first nationally representative research on the frequency of                    bullying among students in the United States" (Bowman). 
Although              the WHO survey queried only students in grades 6 through 10, younger            students are also victims of bullying. In a study of fourth- through            eighth-graders, about 15 percent reported being severely distressed             by bullying and 22 percent reported academic difficulties stemming              from mistreatment by peers (Hoover and Oliver 1996). 
According to             research done by Janice Gallagher, one out of four children is                  bullied, and one out of five defines themselves as a bully (Schmitt             1999). Approximately 282,000 students are physically attacked in                secondary schools every month (Schmitt). 
Many avoid public areas              of the school such as the cafeteria and restrooms in an attempt to              elude bullies. For some students, the fear is so great that they                avoid school altogether. Every day approximately 160,000 students               stay home from school because they are afraid of being bullied (Vail            1999). WHAT IS THE IMPACT OF BULLYING ON TARGETED                             STUDENTS?Bullying can have devastating effects on victims. As               one middle-school student expressed it, "There is another kind of               violence, and that is violence by talking. It can leave you hurting             more than a cut with a knife. It can leave you bruised                          inside" (National Association of Attorneys General 2000). 
Students            who are targeted by bullies often have difficulty concentrating on              their school work, and their academic performance tends to                      be "marginal to poor" (Ballard and others 1999). Typically, bullied             students feel anxious, and this anxiety may in turn produce a                   variety of physical or emotional ailments. 
As noted above, rates              of absenteeism are higher among victimized students than rates among            their nonbullied peers, as are dropout rates. According to Nansel               and colleagues (2001), "youth who are bullied generally show higher             levels of insecurity, anxiety, depression, loneliness, unhappiness,             physical and mental symptoms, and low self-esteem." When students               are bullied on a regular basis, they may become depressed and                   despondent, even suicidal or homicidal. As a report by the National             Association of Attorneys General notes, bullying "is a precursor to             physical violence by its perpetrators and can trigger violence in               its victims." 
The psychological scars left by bullying often                  endure for years. Evidence indicates that "the feelings of isolation            and the loss of self-esteem that victims experience seem to last                into adulthood" (Clarke and Kiselica 1997). Studies have found a                higher level of depression and lower self-esteem among formerly                 bullied individuals at age twenty-three, even though as adults these            individuals were no more harassed or socially isolated than a                   control group (Nansel and others). WHAT CAN SCHOOLS DO TO                     COUNTERACT BULLYING?According to Froschl and Gropper (1999), a              written anti-bullying policy distributed to everyone in the school              community can help to send the message that bullying incidents will             be taken seriously. Of course, to be effective, the policy must have            the support of school staff, and it must be fairly and consistently             applied. 
To discern the nature and extent of the bullying problem             in their school, administrators can distribute surveys to students,             school personnel, and parents (Colvin and others). Once baseline                data are collected, school personnel will be better able to judge               whether any subsequent changes are actually making a                            difference. 
Debra Pepler, director of the LaMarsh Centre for                  Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution at York University in              Toronto, suggests mapping a school's "hot spots" for bullying                   incidents (Ruth Walker 2001). Once problematic locations have been              pinpointed through survey responses or a review of disciplinary                 records, supervision can be concentrated where it is most                       needed. 
Barone points out that providing better supervision is not            necessarily costly. For example, principals can ask teachers to                 stand in the doorways of their classrooms during passing time so                that the halls are well supervised. 
To achieve permanent changes              in how students interact, Colvin and others recommend not only                  delivering negative consequences to those who bully, but teaching               positive behavior through modeling, coaching, prompting, praise, and            other forms of reinforcement. Similarly, Ballard and others                     encourage schools to take a proactive stance by implementing                    programs that teach students "social skills, conflict resolution,               anger management, and character education." 
One 15-year-old girl              said, "I don't know how you do this, but we need to make acceptance             cool" (National Association of Attorneys General). 
At Central York            Middle School in Pennsylvania, all students sign anti-teasing                   pledges and are taught how to appropriately manager their anger.                Since this practice was started, the school reports a reduction in              fistfights. At Laurel Elementary in Fort Collins, Colorado, students            undergo "Be Cool" training in which counselors present them with                provocative situations and help them recognize the difference                   between a "hot response" and a "cool response" (Labi 2001). HOW               CAN PEERS DISCOURAGE BULLYING?O'Connell and others (1999) assert            that "peers may actively or passively reinforce the aggressive                  behaviors of bullies through their attention and engagement. Peer               presence is positively related to the persistence of bullying                   episodes." Similarly, psychologist Peter Fonagy says, "The whole                drama is supported by the bystander. The theater can't take place if            there's no audience" (Labi 2001). 
According to Salmivall (1999),              bullying is increasingly viewed as a "group phenomenon," and                    intervention approaches should be directed toward witnesses as well             as direct participants. Salmivall encourages the development of                 anti-bullying attitudes among peers through awareness-raising, the              opportunity for self-reflection and awakening feelings of                       responsibility, and role-playing or rehearsing new behaviors. 
To              discourage peers from acting as an "audience" to bullying behavior,             Seeds University Elementary School (UES) in Los Angeles has a policy            of sending bystanders as well as bullies for after-school mediation.            Students and their parents sign contracts at the beginning of the               school year acknowledging they understand it is unacceptable to                 ridicule, taunt, or attempt to hurt other students (Labi). If an                incident occurs, it can be used as an opportunity to educate                    students about alternative ways of resolving similar situations in              the future. 
Teaching respect and nonviolence should start in                  elementary school. Some suggest that nonviolence training conducted             by older peers can be particularly powerful because, as one high                school student put it, younger students "don't look up to old                   people; they look up to teenagers" (National Association of                     Attorneys General). 
A survey administered by Naylor and                       Cowie (1999) found positive effects of peer-support systems designed            to challenge bullying. Students accessing support, offered in the               form of mentoring, befriending, mediation, and counseling, as well              as their peers who provided the support, both derived                           benefits. WHAT ELSE CAN BE DONE?Some states are beginning to              require schools to adopt anti-bullying policies. Colorado, New                  Hampshire, and West Virginia recently passed legislation that makes             it mandatory for schools to have anti-bullying policies.                        Massachusetts has allocated one million dollars to "bully-proof" its            schools. 
Students who bully often need intensive support or                   intervention, so it is important for schools and social-service                 agencies to work together. Perpetrators are frequently from "hostile            family environments" (Ballard and others). They may be victims of               acts of aggression at home, or witness aggression among other family            members. 
Parents can play a role in reducing bullying. William                Pollack, a psychologist, says, "Research shows that the success of              any program is 60% grounded in whether the same kinds of approaches             are used at home" (Labi). 
If everyone works together to discourage            bullying and respond to incidents, fertile conditions are created               for students to develop a greater sense of connection to their peers            and for seeds of respect and acceptance to                                      grow. RESOURCESBallard, Mary; Tucky Argus; and Theodore P.                Remley, Jr. "Bullying and School Violence: A Proposed Prevention                Program." NASSP Bulletin (May 1999): 38-47. 
Barone, Frank                     J. "Bullying in School: It Doesn't Have to Happen." Phi Delta                   Kappan (September 1997): 80-82. EA 533 807. 
Bowman, Darcia                    Harris. "Survey of Students Documents the Extent of Bullying."                  Education Week on the Web (May 2, 2001). 
Clarke, E. A., and M. S.             Kiselica. "A Systemic Counseling Approach to the Problem of                     Bullying." Elementary School Guidance and Counseling 31 (1997):                 310-24. 
Colvin, G.; T. Tobin; K. Beard; S. Hagan; and J.                      Sprague. "The School Bully: Assessing the Problem, Developing                   Interventions, and Future Research Directions." Journal of                      Behavioral Education 8, 3 (1998): 293-319. 
Garrity, C.; K. Jens;              W. Porter; N. Sager; and C. Short-Camilli. Bully-Proofing Your                  School. Longmont, Colorado: Sopris West. 1996. 
Hoover, J. H.; and             R. Oliver. The Bullying Prevention Handbook: A Guidefor Principals,             Teachers, and Counselors. Bloomington, Indiana: National Education              Service, 1996. 
Khosropour, Shirin C., and James Walsh. "The                   Effectiveness of a Violence Prevention Program: Did It Influence How            Children Conceptualize Bullying?" Paper presented at the annual                 meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Seattle,            April 2001. 
Labi, Nadya. "Let Bullies Beware." Time online, March             25, 2001. 
Nansel, Tonja R.; Mary Overpeck; Ramani S. Pilla; W.                June Ruan; Bruce Simons-Morton; and Peter Scheidt. "Bullying                    Behaviors Among U.S. Youth: Prevalence and Association with                     Psychosocial Adjustment." Journal of the American Medical                       Association 286, 16 (April 25, 2001). 
National Association of                 Attorneys General. Bruised Inside: What Our Children Say About Youth            Violence, What Chauses It, and What We Should Do About It. Author,              2000. 
Naylor, Paul, and Helen Cowie "The Effectiveness of Peer                Support Systems in Challenging School Bullying: The Perspectives and            Experiences of Teachers and Pupils." Journal of Adolescence 22,                 4 (August 1999): 467-79. EJ 609 417. 
O'Connell, Paul; Debra                   Pepler, and Wendy Craig. "Peer Involvement in Bullying: Insights and            Challenges for Intervention." Journal of Adolescence 22 (1999):                 437-52. 
Salmivalli, Christina. "Participant Role Approach to                  School Bullying: Implications for Interventions." Journal of                    Adolescence 22 (1999): 453-59. 
U.S. Secret Service National Threat            Assessment Center. Safe School Initiative: An Interim Report on the             Prevention of Targeted Violence in Schools. Washington, D.C.:                   Author, October 2000. 
Vail, Kathleen. "Words That Wound." American            School Board Journal (September 1999): 37-40. 
Walker, Ruth. "To               Stop Bullying, Involve the Whole School." Christian Science                     Monitor (March 13, 2001): 19. 
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A Product of the ERIC                   Clearinghouse on Educational Management, College of Education,                  University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon  97403-5207. 
This publication            was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational Research               and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under contract No.               ED-99-C0-0011.  The ideas and opinions expressed in this Digest do              not necessarily reflect the positions or policies of OERI, ED, or               the Clearinghouse. This Digest is in the public domain and may be               freely reproduced. The text of this Digest may be viewed                        electronically at http://eric.uoregon.edu.                                   **Title:** Preventing Bullying. ERIC Digest.                                            **Note:** Digest number 155.                                                           **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, 5207 University of                Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-5207. Tel: 800-438-8841 (Toll Free); Fax:              541-346-2334; Web site: http://eric.uoregon.edu. For full text:                 http://eric.uoregon.edu/publications/digests/index.html.                     **Descriptors:** Academic Achievement, Antisocial Behavior,  Bullying, Elementary                Secondary Education, Group Dynamics,  Intervention, Peer Acceptance,            Peer Influence, Peer Mediation,  Prevention,  School Responsibility,            Violence                                                                     **Identifiers:**  ERIC Digests                                                                
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